Gorillas Drop Second in a Row to Arizona
March 15, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
Prescott Valley, AZ 3/15/08 - The Amarillo Gorillas dropped their second straight decision to the Arizona Sundogs at Tim's Toyota Center on Saturday night, losing by a final score of 7-4. Amarillo finished the season with a 3-5 series record against the Sundogs, and has dropped the last four in a row against their Southwest Division rivals. With the loss, and another win by Austin, Amarillo is now five points behind the Ice Bats for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Southern Conference, with a game in hand against Austin.
The Gorillas playoff hopes are still alive, but they are now going to need some help from other teams, as Austin has three games left, one of which is against Amarillo. Austin will have to lose either against Corpus Christi tomorrow or against Texas next Saturday night for the Gorillas to have a chance at making the playoffs.
The Sundogs would take a 3-0 lead into the second period, getting goals from Cory Urquhart, Dan Laperriere and Alex Leavitt in the first frame. Leavitt's goal came on a penalty shot with just :02 left on the first period clock.
Amarillo came back to tie it up in the second however, getting goals from Matt Miller, David Nimmo and Bill Vandermeer to even the score at the 15:24 mark of the second. Nimmo's goal was his 40th of the season, as he continues to build on his franchise record for most goals scored in a single season. Nimmo is one of only three players in the CHL to have 40 or more goals, the others being Rocky Mountain's Daymen Rycroft (47) and Laredo's Jeff Bes (44). Shortly after Vandermeer's tying goal however, Arizona would regain the lead for good off of Jason Visser's power-play goal at 16:44 of the second.
Visser would quickly tally his second of the game early in period three, scoring just 2:00 into the final frame to give the Dogs a 5-3 lead. The Gorillas would keep coming at Arizona, as defenseman Shaun Arvai got his 10th of the year 4:43 into the third to make it a one goal affair once again. On this weekend however, Arizona was just too much as goals from Dusty Collins and Barry Horman would stretch the lead to 7-4 down the stretch, and give the Sundogs their 35th win of the season.
Although the task has become a bit more difficult after this weekend, Amarillo will continue their trek towards a playoff berth next week starting on Tuesday night with a game in Odessa against the Jackalopes. Game time is 7:05 PM.
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Central Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2008
- Gorillas Drop Second in a Row to Arizona - Amarillo Gorillas
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- Rage Sign Two-Time All-Star - Rocky Mountain Rage
- Boomtown Trading Card Giveaway Starts Tonight - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
- Bucks In Youngstown Again Tonight: Three Points From Clinching South - Laredo Bucks
- Sundogs' Urquhart Scorches Gorillas in 7-2 Win - Amarillo Gorillas
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